75gal First Planted Tank Journal by Torpedobarb UPDATED PICS!

[Torpedobarb]

this is my first planted tank.. and second aquarium ever.. I am trying to do everything I can to do this the right way. I am open to suggestions. tell me anything that I am doing wrong.. don't hesistate.. I won't learn unless I have the help I need. tell me what you think!

I am running a pressurized co2 system, 2 rena xp3 canister filters with rena smart heaters 200w, 2 130w coralife t5 light fixtures with lunar lights. everything is on timers, co2, lights, air pump, lunar lights ect. I used aquariumplants.com substrate. driftwood was my own find in local streams. same as for the rocks. I have more plants coming from aquabotanic.com, dwarf hairgrass for the empty space in the front, i have some dwarf anubias, crypt balanese, aponogeton crispum all coming in next week. I will post a list of the plants tomorrow along with the fish.. I mostly have tetras, lots of different kinds in schools. again.. tell me what you think.. I worked hard on this tank today!

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[Torpedobarb]

[Torpedobarb]

[lauraleellbp]

Wow that looks really good! Especially for your 2nd ever tank!!!

It looks like your Anubias over on the far right might have the rhizome (thick green piece all the roots grow off of) buried? If so, it really should be tied to a piece of driftwood or rock, it will die "planted" in the substrate.

Also, some of your swords might be buried too deep (or they might just be behind a "hill" in the substrate- can't tell for sure?) At any rate, the crown of a rosette plant like swordplants needs to be above the substrate. The crown is the spot where all the leaves meet.

The water looks awfully cloudy- did you cycle this tank before adding the fish? Have you checked your ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte levels?

[BiscuitSlayer]

pwrmacG4 -

Thats a great looking start to the tank. Did you cycle it prior to adding fish? Looks like your bioload is pretty high too with all of the fish that are in it.

It is going to look amazing when it grows out.

[Torpedobarb]

I didn't cycle the tank first... I have about 20lbs of my old substrate from my 29gal in nylon bags hidden in the back behind plants. the canister filters have been running on my 29gal for about 2 months so that the bacteria would be growing inside on the filter media. I did check the water tonight and I had no nitrites, no ammonia and the nitrates were at 10 ppm. ph was at 7.2

those readings were 2 hrs or so after I fed the fish. the water is cloudy at the time of most of the pics.. but it has cleared up almost to nothing as of now. the rena xp3 filters are no joke.. and with 2 of them running wide open.. cleans up in a hurry!

the anubias that is in my tank now has been growing in the substrate for years in my father in laws tank.. and I have been growing it in the substrate for almost 4 months now and it is growing like crazy! I just have to move some of the substrate from the rizome on it. the substrate moves around easily right now because it has alot of air still trapped under it. looks ok though?

[lauraleellbp]

Good- sounds like you've got your bases covered; the cloudiness must have just been disturbed substrate. I think it looks great! Really!

[Torpedobarb]

yep.. this tank was only up and running for a few hrs total when I took those pics.. this was brand new substrate so there was a little bit of cloudiness.. I will take more pics tomorrow and post them. I think it will be cleared up quite a bit more by then

[Torpedobarb]

here are some updated pics.. did some rearranging. what do you think? I am for suggestions

[Torpedobarb]

picked up more neon tetras, columbian tetras and bloodfin tetras today.. also got another 2 crypts..

[Buck]

Lookin great so far. Thats quite an assortment of plants you got going. What are you running for lights?

[Torpedobarb]

2 coralife 130w t5 lights.. 6700k bulbs so 260w total.. about 3.1 wpg. thanks! I have alot of plants.. yes.. I have a few more coming in this week! I am planting the entire front with dwarf hairgrass. I have dwarf anubias coming still, crypt balanese, and aponogeton crispus. I also ordered some of the baby tears.. will have that to the right side of the tank near the calamistratum on the right.